THE PINK FAMILY 69 



ting clover seed crops; the increased value of the seed will pay 

 for the labour. Fields of alsike so badly infested as to render 

 hand-pulling impracticable should be cut for hay and the land 

 put under a system of cultivation calculated to clean it of the 

 weed seeds. A rotation of crops exclusive of alsike seed should 

 be adopted for six or eight years. Grass or clover seeds con- 

 taining Catchfly should be thoroughly cleaned in mills equipped 

 with screens specially designed to remove this impurity, and 

 should not be used on land that may later be required for the 

 production of alsike seed. 



ALLIED SPECIES: The genus Silene embraces a tribe of 

 herbaceous plants represented by more than three hundred 

 species, relatively few of them are cultivated for decorative 

 purposes, the greater number being useless wayside weeds. 



Conical Catchfly (Silene conica L.) is occasionally met in 

 southern Ontario in fields and waste places. It is a small plant, 

 with small pink or purple flowers and a cone-shaped fruit 

 capsule. The seed is about 2/3 the size of that of Night-flowering 

 Catchfly. 



Sleepy Catchfly (Silene antirrhina L.), probably introduced 

 with imported clover seed, is quite widely distributed. It has a 

 slender stem which frequently shows purple colouring, about 2 

 feet in height, with narrow leaves. The flowers are quite small 

 and pinkish-white. The seed is of the same form as that of 

 Night-flowering Catchfly, about half the size and darker in colour; 

 it is difficult to separate from timothy seed, and is occasionally 

 present in commercial samples of various kinds of grass and 

 clover seeds. 



Garden Catchfly (Silene Armeria L.) is frequently found 

 growing in fields near old gardens from which it has escaped. 

 It is an annual, with pink and white flowers, and seldom gives 

 serious trouble. 



Small-flowered Catchfly (Silene gallica L.) is quite common 

 in the eastern provinces and on the Pacific coast. It is about 15 

 inches high, branched; flowers small and white. The seed is 

 similar to that of Sleepy Catchfly in size and colour and is 

 noticeably depressed on each side adjacent to the scar. 



